


fox spirit

by allechant



Category: Rune Factory 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ancient Egyptian Deities, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23986777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allechant/pseuds/allechant
Summary: the man she rescued from Leon Karnak was so much more than what he appeared to be.
Relationships: Frey/Leon (Rune Factory)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	fox spirit

People always said to avoid Leon Karnak. There was something about that tower, they whispered – something unexplainable dwelling within it that would drag you into its unexplored depths, and once you were sucked in, there was no way to come back.

She had never believed those stories. Even Obsidian Mansion, haunted by ghosts and long-forgotten memories, turned out to be relatively harmless. She didn’t think for a moment that Leon Karnak would be different from anywhere else.

But as she stared at the unconscious fox-eared man who had fallen out of the living sarcophagus she just barely managed to take down, she wondered if indeed, Leon Karnak was an exception. Maybe there really _was_ something about this place. The man glowed with a mysterious light, and when she tried to approach him there was a barrier that prevented her from getting any closer.

This was the final Guardian, wasn’t it? He didn’t look quite _human_ , just like Dylas – this man had animal ears and a tail too, but Dylas didn’t glow when he collapsed out of his monster form, and she had been able to bring him to Selphia without a problem. Frey continued to stand there, wondering if she should leave for now.

But the barrier that stopped her from coming too close to the mysterious man also didn’t allow her to leave the room, and she felt stuck. “What should I do now?” she asked aloud, not expecting a response – she had defeated the two stone foxes guarding this chamber, and there was no one else here, no one to tell her what to do.

Was this enough to save Venti? She had to get back to Selphia. She had to go to Venti’s room and make sure her friend was safe, that she was no longer dying.

“Who…are you?” She heard an unfamiliar voice murmur, and she jumped, looking around for the source of the voice – she saw the man was slowly opening his eyes, blinking up at her. “Where am I?” His words were heavy with sleep.

“You’re in Leon Karnak,” she answered, trying to approach him – the invisible barrier remained in her way, once again preventing her from getting closer, and she exhaled, exasperated. “Do you remember the last thing that happened to you?”

The man was struggling to sit up, and he groaned as he pushed himself off the ground, one of his hands reaching up to cover his forehead. His ears twitched. “I think so. I closed my eyes. I was…becoming a Guardian. To help save a friend.”

“Ventuswill?” she asked. The man’s eyes widened at the name and he nodded, meeting her gaze. She felt her breath catch – he had the bluest eyes she’d ever seen, and they sparked with energy, reminding her of lightning tearing open the summer sky. “The Rune Spheres are keeping her alive. But we need to get out of here soon, and I can’t…I can’t break through this barrier, for some reason.” She tried to push against it, but the invisible wall didn’t give.

He mumbled something in a language she didn’t understand, then he looked back at her, blinking slowly. “How about now?” he asked.

She reached forward and her hand met nothing but thin air – the wall was gone. Her eyes went wide. “Were you the one who set up those barriers?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want people to stumble in here and get hurt. Explorers tend to bite off a bit more than they can chew.”

Given that the sarcophagus had been able to pass through those barriers anyway, that wasn’t very helpful. But she reserved her comments. To be fair, she only managed to get into this chamber because the two foxes had deemed her worthy.

“Would you like to go back to town with me?” she asked, holding her hand out for him. The man stared at her for a moment, and she could feel him thinking about her offer – a few seconds later, he slowly placed his hand in hers, and she activated her return spell, wondering what Venti would say when she set eyes on her old friend.

* * *

It had been weeks and she was still trying to figure out the mysterious man she had rescued from Leon Karnak.

Coincidentally, his name was Leon too. She wondered if the tower was named after him or vice-versa, but when she asked, he just smiled and said he couldn’t recall.

Venti didn’t tell her much about him either. She said it would be rude to bring up his past if he didn’t want to say anything himself, and also, they had an agreement not to embarrass each other by divulging details from their pasts. Which made Frey think about exactly how old Leon was.

She barely knew anything about him. All she knew was that the two foxes who guarded his chamber, Uno and Sano, were Leon’s companions, and Leon was born during a time long, long before theirs. He lived in the inn and had a friendly relationship with everyone, though his teasing got on Forte’s nerves sometimes. Generally, he kept to himself and spent his days helping Arthur to translate old texts.

Frey was unable to explain her curiosity about the fourth Guardian. She hadn’t been this _bothered_ about the other three – Amber was a pretty open book, Dylas once told her that he didn’t particularly care for his old town, and Pico divulged so many details about Dolce without prompting that Frey didn't see a need to ask further questions.

But there was something about Leon that felt different from the others. Something about the way he continued to smile while fending off any questions about his past intrigued her. She remembered the barriers he had set up around him at the tower and she couldn’t help but feel that there was just _more_ to him.

So, stubborn as she was, she began to seek him out every day, even going so far as to catch his favourite fish when he casually mentioned it during a conversation once. She cooked the poisonous rainbow trout and was pleased when he accepted her gift with a look of genuine surprise on his face. She hoped that getting closer to Leon would allow her more insight as to what kind of person he was, but despite her efforts, he continued to sidestep any questions that got too personal.

Once or twice, she thought he came close to actually telling her something about himself, but then he would close his mouth and change the topic and she ended up leaving with even more questions. He had an opinion on just about anything, with his past being the only exception.

Sometimes, he’d tell her how soft Sano and Uno were. Or he’d bring up how much he disliked orcs. Sometimes he’d wander into her house while she was cooking and point out how some of her crops had wilted, smiling at her the entire time. Once in a while, he would offhandedly mention that he enjoyed being in this town, talking to different people and seeing their reactions to the things he said, but that was the most personal he’d ever gotten. And to tell the truth, it was _frustrating_.

“Hey, you.” She jumped when she heard the familiar voice – she looked around to see Leon walking up to her, idly cooling himself with his peacock feather fan.

She pouted. “I have a name, you know,” she answered, wondering what he wanted. Leon usually didn’t approach her of his own accord. That reminded her of Dylas, in a way – neither one of these two were very keen on doing things with other people.

“I know. I’ll use it if I feel like it.” He snapped his fan shut, one hand on his hip. “I was thinking if you would like to go to Leon Karnak with me. I have something I need to do there, and Uno and Sano said that they… _miss_ you, apparently.”

“Aren’t they always hanging around you?” She squinted at him, wondering if this was some kind of joke. If it was, then it wasn’t very funny. But admittedly, Leon had a rather strange sense of humour at times.

“Not really. I can hear them, that’s all. But they’re usually at the tower.” Leon’s ears twitched, and her gaze was drawn to them – they looked so fluffy. Her hands itched to touch them, but she was pretty sure Leon would stab her if she tried.

“Okay, then.” She didn’t have that much to do anyway. She had watered her crops and brushed her monsters in the morning, and now she was thinking about where to go since she still had hours left before night fell. Before today, she hadn’t been able to find the time to explore Leon Karnak, so this might be a good opportunity. “When do you want to go?”

“Mm, why not now?” He grinned, amused by her look of confusion. “Unless you’re busy, of course. But given how you’ve been wandering around the town square for the past ten minutes…I would assume that you are not.”

Had he been watching her for that long? She felt a little embarrassed. It wasn’t her fault that she liked to do her thinking in the town square, right? “No, I’m not busy right now.” Eliza could wait. “Shall we take the airship to Leon Karnak?”

It wasn’t long before they were on their way to the tower. Throughout the trip there, they didn’t talk – Leon stood at the side of the airship, staring at the scenery below, and there was something almost wistful about his expression. She wondered what he was thinking. It was rare to see him looking so pensive, given his tendency to tease people. It was a nice change to see him looking so thoughtful.

She went to stand beside him. He glanced at her but didn’t acknowledge her in any other way. “It’s a nice view from up here, isn’t it?” she asked, an attempt at starting a conversation. Leon murmured something in assent, sounding distracted.

She peeked at him again, expecting him to be looking elsewhere, and was surprised to realise he was staring straight at her. “What do you think of flying?” he asked.

“Flying?” She paused. It wasn’t something she thought too much about. “It’s fun, I guess,” she finally said. “I like feeling the wind in my face. And I think flying together with Venti and Amber would be nice. But I doubt being on the airship is anything like having wings. Sometimes I wonder how it feels like to be them.”

He nodded. “You know, once upon a time I wished I had wings. Ventuswill laughed when I told her that. Said I’d look strange, because no fox has –” he suddenly cut himself off and Frey blinked, wondering what he had intended to say. Leon coughed. “But well, now there are inventions like airships, so anyone can soar through the skies as they wish, regardless of whether they have wings or not. And I think that’s wonderful.”

Leon had definitely almost let something slip. Something about foxes. “I'm pretty curious – how did you get to know Uno and Sano?” she asked. She tried asking the same question once before, but Leon managed to divert her attention by telling her about a King Wooly that had appeared a short distance outside the town. She ran to the spot he mentioned and discovered that Leon had _lied_ to her.

“Uno and Sano?” Leon snapped his fan open. “They were strays I picked up a long time ago. Nothing particularly special about them.”

“You…picked up two giant stray statues?” she asked, confused. A grin appeared on Leon’s face as he fanned himself, and she saw his ears twitching. She had realised some time ago that Leon’s ears twitched whenever he was feeling amused.

If he was entertained, then he probably wasn’t answering her seriously either. “Yes. Make of that what you wish,” he replied, and she frowned at him.

Before she could say much more, the airship came to a halt and she realised they had reached Leon Karnak. “Oh, we’ve arrived,” Leon echoed her thoughts. “Shall we get down to business, then?”

They descended from the airship, and she looked down the path that would lead them to the tower. There was a tingle of excitement in her heart, and she pressed her hand against her chest, drawing a deep breath.

She thought about what she might find as she ascended the tower – sneaking a glance at Leon, who was staring at the same path with an unreadable look in his eyes, she wondered if she’d be able to find out more about him too.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought it would be interesting to play around with Leon's origin story and identity. He has such an interesting design, so it's a pity that it's never really taken further than his physical characteristics.
> 
> I bypassed the whole Forest of Beginnings part of Arc One because it wasn't really necessary for the purposes of this story. Will still be set in the RF4 universe though.


End file.
